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Music with light bulbs and leaves

Last Saturday, Whim W'Him held a benefit for the launch of Olivier Wever's new company. The debut work, to be premiered at On the Boards in January 2010, will be the Three Seasons prompted by Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

I've been sketching ideas drawn from Vivaldi's use of musical gestures. His phrases for violin and strings represent birds, thunder, and other sounds heard in nature. This prompts me to think about the nature of "nature."

Each of Olivier's nine dancers have an object they cannot live without. These include high heels, pillows, and light bulbs. I wonder if these factory-produced items affect a listener's notions of what is natural.

How do man-made and nature sounds inhabit the world?

In the Digital Age, is the notion of nature broadened?

What is the sound of light bulbs with leaves?

The music was created in collaboration with Sebastian Lange on amplified/processed violin, and percussionists Stuart McLeod and James Whetzel on amplified leaves, water bowl, pillows, high heels, water phone and light bulbs.